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Mayor Megan Barry: 'War of words' between DA, police chief must stop

The mayor made a brief announcement Friday, saying both top law enforcement officers in Nashville have acted inappropriately. But she also supported the district attorney's suggestion that Nashville police should reconsider language used on some police reports.

Mayor Megan Barry: 'War of words' between DA, police chief must stop

Mayor Megan Barry calls for an end of the "war of words" between Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk and Police Chief Steve Anderson during a Friday, May 19, 2017 press conference. The law enforcement leaders exchanged criticisms in the decision not to prosecute Officer Joshua Lippert for fatally shooting Jocques Clemmons on Feb. 10, 2017, in the James A. Cayce Homes public housing community in East Nashville.(Photo: Stacey Barchenger / The Tennessean)Buy Photo

Mayor Megan Barry scolded the city's top two law enforcement officials at a Friday news conference, telling Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson and District Attorney Glenn Funk to "stop the war of words."

She also said she ordered the police department to refrain from issuing future reports on officer-involved shootings until criminal investigations into the officer's actions are conducted first — a suggestion that came from the district attorney's office.

Barry was addressing reporters after holding a mediation at the mayor's office between Anderson and Funk on Friday morning that a spokesman said lasted around 30 minutes.

"From time to time, there will be disagreements between them, and I think that's true of many components of government, but we need to make sure that we're working together to make sure our citizens are safe," Barry said.

"I've asked that we stop the war of words that the district attorney and MNPD have engaged in. They need to communicate more and they need to cooperate more."

Barry says both Anderson and Funk acted inappropriately

For weeks, the two men have been in a growing rift that has played out publicly during the high-profile case of Jocques Clemmons, an African-American man who was fatally shot in February by a white police officer, Joshua Lippert, after Clemmons ran through a stop sign.

Barry said it "would have been more appropriate" for Funk and his office to discuss what Funk and his deputy prosecutor said was a possible appearance of bias in a police report before they aired the concerns at a news conference last week where he announced he would not prosecute Lippert.

She also said that Anderson was wrong to issue what she called a "harsh letter" earlier this week to Deputy District Attorney Amy Hunter on the matter. In that letter, the police chief strongly disputed Hunter's statements regarding the appearance of bias.

"It was inappropriate for Chief Anderson to do that, and I have told him that," Barry said. "These issues should be directed toward me. So on behalf of Metro Nashville, I want to apologize to General Hunter. I have directed Chief Anderson to discuss any correspondence of this nature to me in the future."

Mayor points to 'critical next steps'

In response to the Clemmons case, Barry said there are "critical next steps," pointing to the new procedure of having the police department hold off on finalizing reports on officer-involved shootings until after any criminal inquiry. She said Metro police and the district attorney's office intend to work on a joint-training program to create a better understanding of both department's policies.

Barry did not take questions from reporters following her prepared remarks, which lasted five minutes. She left to attend a groundbreaking event for a new hotel in East Nashville instead. Barry spokesman Sean Braisted took questions in her place.

Police spokesman Don Aaron said the department had nothing to add to the mayor's statements.

Funk also declined to comment.

Even before their recent back and forth, a deepening chasm had developed between Anderson, who works under the mayor, and Funk, who was elected to his first term in 2014.

Mayor wants police to adopt TBI's best practices

At Funk's news conference last week, Hunter highlighted that the police department described Clemmons as a “suspect" from the outset of the case. She also said police had "completed" their investigation within five hours. She said those decisions contributed to a potential "appearance of bias" in the police investigation.

On Friday, Barry expressed support for MNPD reviewing and adopting TBI's best practices regarding those terms. According to TBI Director Mark Gwyn, the agency uses the terms "officer" and "other" in officer-involved shooting investigations instead of "victim" and "suspect."

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Pastor and state Rep. Harold Love, left, Mayor Megan Barry and District Attorney Glenn Funk pray during a service for the city and the Jocques Clemmons family at Mt. Gilead Missionary Baptist Church on Thursday, May 11, 2017.(Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)

Anderson has rejected claims of bias. He sent a blistering letter to Hunter on Tuesday to take on the district attorney's accusation — the same letter Barry has now apologized for.

"Your account was, at best, a misstatement of the facts," Anderson wrote to Hunter. "This was especially troubling in that you were, PRIOR to this event, furnished with an explanation as to why and how this report was compiled."

Anderson went on to say Hunter ignored portions of police reports and was briefed on why certain terms were used, and given copies of the department's report-writing manual and statewide law enforcement criteria that call for the use of the terms.

"You are well aware that the MNPD continued this investigation for a number of days after the event," he wrote. "Second, you are aware, or should be aware, through your day to day duties, that investigations are almost never 'completed.' There is almost always additional information to gather up to, and during, a trial."

Funk responded in a letter to Barry — he noted that the mayor is the police chief's boss — in which he said he stands by Hunter and everything in the report.

Barry remains loyal to police chief despite recent events

Anderson, who has worked in the Metro Police Department for 42 years, the last seven as chief, has attracted increased scrutiny over the past year. It has put Barry, who draws from a liberal base politically, in some uncomfortable positions with the old-school cop, but she's remained loyal to Anderson nonetheless.

In addition to issues stemming from the Clemmons controversy, Anderson took heat from some council members after he lambasted a report from the nonprofit Gideon's Army that found black motorists are pulled over by police officers at disproportionately higher rates than white people.

Though he didn't dispute the numbers, Anderson blasted the suggestion of bias in a letter to council members, calling the report "morally disingenuous" and an attempt to drive a wedge between the police department and Nashvillians.

Anderson has developed a penchant for issuing his own letters, like this one, when hot issues arise. They are apparently written unilaterally — without consultation of the mayor. Braisted said past correspondences from Anderson speak only for the chief, not the mayor.

The police department was also criticized earlier this year following a report from WPLN radio that found police trainees were using a book published in 1986 that described minorities as threats. Barry pressed Anderson on the choice of the book during budget hearings in March, and the police department is no longer using it.

Last month, Barry proposed a budget that includes $23 million to install body-worn and dashboard cameras to police officers — a top demand of social justice activists. Anderson last year was originally noncommittal on such a program, and later said $50 million would be needed to launch and oversee it properly.

Anderson-Funk spat has widened

Meanwhile, the Anderson-Funk feud has been exposed on multiple fronts in recent months.

Criticism from Anderson led to the resignation of the district attorney's spokesman Ken Whitehouse in January after the police chief blasted the release of a police report in a pending rape case.

Two months later, the two sides disagreed on the proper way to handle the Clemmons investigation. Funk and the TBI pushed for the TBI to be the exclusive investigator while Anderson sought officers to continue their own investigation.

With involvement from Barry, the two sides in April agreed to a memorandum of understanding on how to handle fatal officer-involved use of force investigations. The TBI is to investigate any death involving the use of force by an on-duty Metro police officer. Police may conduct a simultaneous internal or administrative investigation but not a criminal investigation.